Ick, velvet or both

[ron s]

I had what I thought was an Ick out break last week. I did not have a QT large enough to treat all the fish in the tank so I tried soaking their food in garlic. The Harleqiun Tusk was the only fish that had alot of visible signs. He was starting to get better and all of the fish were eating well. Then Monday morning a week after the fist signs appeared the Tusk was covered in what looks more powdery than before. He stoped eating and so did the Lion and Grouper. The SF eel and blue damsel seem to be unafected. The Tusk is very bad now and probably won't live long. The Lion has one eye that is clouded and has a lite dusting of what looks like powder and is not moving much. The grouper is still active but has lost his color and is scratching alot. I was woundering if this could still be ick or if it is now both ick and velvet or maybe something else like secondary bacterial infection. I am going to see if I can find a tank that I can treat the Grouper and Lion tonight and treat with coppper and myracin, but I heard that eels a sensitive to copper. If this is true what should I do with the eel since he seems to be ok for now.

 

[ron s]

Thanks Terry for your resonse I read those articles and found them very informitive. I can't treat the main display because I have 175 lbs of live rock in there. I did pick up a 29 gallon tank tonight and I am heating the water now then tomorrow I am going to do water changes on the 2 tanks that are running good and use that water in the QT. The reason I was thinking it is Velvet now is because of the speed it took down the Tusk. Sunday he had a few spots but still looked ok and today is laying on the sand panting heavily and he looks like he has been dead for a few days. Can a bacterial infection take down a fish that fast. He was a large strong fish about 6" long and and 1" thick. If there is a posibility it is Velvet should I still treat with Hypo in the QT or should I use copper. Thanks again for your help.

 

[ron s]

Well I have the QT set up but not in time for the Tusk. I caught the Lion and put him in there and started to treat with Hypo. No one around hear seems to carry Maracyn 2 for saltwater, I had allready got some Maracyn so I started treating with that because I figured someting would be better than nothing. I have not had much luck catching the Grouper or the Damsel both disapear into the live rock when they see the net and the Grouper hasn't eaten since Sunday so I can't lure him into the net with food.
My question is if I can manage to catch these guys how much of a variance in SG can they take when I put them in the QT tank that is being treated with Hypo. Will I need to raise it back up and then lower it back down or can I climatize them in the bag over a hour or so. Also I have a Snowflake Eel in the tank and the guy at the LFS said that eels don't get infected with ick and that I could leave him in the Dispaly tank is there any truth to this and if not is it ok to treat him with Hypo and Maracyn in the QT with the others. Thanks again for your help.

 

[ron s]

Is it ok to swith over to Maracyn 2 for FW now or should I just continue with the Maracyn treatment? If I change to Maracyn 2 FW will I need to put carbon in to remove the Maracyn or are they close enough to just start using Maracyn 2? Also if I use the FW Maracyn 2 do the direction for FW aply to SW also? Thanks again for your help.
Ron